RS200 and 400 Sprint Championship action

by Event media on 3 Jun 2009
Multiple fifteen minute races around ultra short courses with each class divided into nine boat fleets – and you have the recipe for high octane action in the RS200 and RS400 classes. With a premium on starting and exceptional boat handling, this format delivers incredibly fast paced excitement, great training and a real change from normal racing formats.

Taking place last weekend at Rutland the race team were, once again, impeccable and the event culminated in finals for each class that saw, as Class Chairman Pete Vincent put it 'A war zone on the start lines.'

In the RS200 event, every flight again saw very close racing, with no one being able to dominate any flight, demonstrating the incredible strength in depth of the RS200 fleet. With each flight having six races and there still being no discards, the final outcome was in the balance until the very end.

Eventually though, the cream rose to the top, with Dave & Jane Hivey coming top in the RS200 Gold fleet. They were very closely pursued by Nick Charles (enjoying his last weekend of freedom) & Helen Wightman, with James Boyce & Sam Tozer just squeezing in front of a gaggle of boats in third.

In the RS400 it was down to Race Six, the last race of the day. Any one of three boats were in the running. Chris and Dan Martin made their intentions clear and once again shot off, with Fleming/Hartigan in hot pursuit. Farbrother/Pinch gradually cleared the pursuing pack led by Simms/Marsh, and started to close the gap on Fleming/Hartigan.

On the last leg Fleming/Hartigan crossed 1251 ahead and looked like they’d hold it, but for a timely gust that let Farbrother/Pinch dial down and snaffle 2nd place by the thickness of a gnats unmentionables. The Gul Sprints were over. Howard Farbrother and Nathan Pinch of Queen Mary were RS400 Gul Sprint Champions. Chris and Dan Martin of Burghfield took second overall, and Alex Fleming / Joe Hartigan of Leigh & Lowton in third place.

RS400 sailor Howard Farbrother comments'

'The Sprint Championships have come of age.' The sailors that took part really rate this event. It does require pre-entry so that the boats can be organised into fleets and the whole schedule planned. This is no small task with a total of ninety one (yes 91) races taking part across the two classes – each boat completing thirteen races over the weekend!

This year the weather was completely onside, with 15 knots and glorious blue skies all weekend. RS racing at its best, with of course a good bash on Saturday night.

As we firmly move into summer, the Eurocup in Carnac at the end of July is now coming up fast. Carnac is very easy to reach for UK sailors and a fabulous summer venue on the west coast of France. Details are also on the RS Association website.

RS200 and 400 Sprint Championship 2009

RS200 - Fleet A
1st RS 200 A RS 200 1323 David Hivey Jane Hivey West Lancashire YC 1 6 1 3 2 1 14
2nd RS 200 A RS 200 953 Nicholas Charles Helen Wightman Littleton SC 3 2 6 6 1 2 20
3rd RS 200 A RS 200 1088 James Boyce Sam Tozer Papercourt SC 8 1 5 1 7 5 27
4th RS 200 A RS 200 1203 James Stewart Toby Lewis RYA 6 3 8 2 5 4 28
5th RS 200 A RS 200 566 Hamish Walker Clare Stubbs RNSA 7 5 2 5 6 8 33
6th RS 200 A RS 200 1301 Pete Vincent Tessa Nicholls Bristol Corinthian YC 4 9 3 8 3 6 33
7th RS 200 A RS 200 1059 Andy Bryson Joanna Bailey West Kirby SC 2 7 4 7 8 7 35
8th RS 200 A RS 200 1165 Ian Pickard Karen Falcon RYA 9 8 7 4 9 3 40
9th RS 200 A RS 200 1313 Steve Dunn R Jones RYA 5 4 9 9 4 9 40

RS200 B Fleet
1st RS 200 B RS 200 1148 Ian Martin Chris Catt Burghfield SC 1 1 1 4 3 1 11
2nd RS 200 B RS 200 481 John Teague Louise Fisher Bristol Corinthian YC 3 7 2 5 2 6 25
3rd RS 200 B RS 200 617 Ian Sharp Vicki Fairhurst Burghfield SC 4 4 4 2 9 3 26
4th RS 200 B RS 200 1130 Rob Janering Ian Gill Wembley SC 7 6 6 1 5 2 27
5th RS 200 B RS 200 1010 Steve Restall Judy Restall Downs 8 2 8 7 1 4 30
6th RS 200 B RS 200 1336 Roy McCubbin Kirsty McSeveney Strathclyde Loch SC 6 9 5 3 4 5 32
7th RS 200 B RS 200 533 David Royse Nikki Russell Oxford SC 2 5 7 6 7 7 34
8th RS 200 B RS 200 600 Fiona Hall Lina Haines Littleton SC 9 3 3 8 8 8 39
9th RS 200 B RS 200 640 Ellie Martin Catherine Lovering Burghfield SC 5 8 9 9 6 9 46

RS200 C Fleet
1st RS 200 C RS 200 1353 Sue Antonelli Jo Lloyd Littleton SC 1 1 2 3 5 2 14
2nd RS 200 C RS 200 1146 Matt Greenfield Anthony Greenfield Littleton SC 5 4 1 1 6 3 20
3rd RS 200 C RS 200 1325 Charlotte Savage Darren McNamara BCYC 7 2 5 2 3 1 20
4th RS 200 C RS 200 858 Paul Lewis Felicity Pearson Emsworth Slipper 4 3 4 4 1 6 22
5th RS 200 C RS 200 584 Paul Whitbread Neil Hayes Burghfield SC 6 7 3 7 2 5 30
6th RS 200 C RS 200 1285 Paul Teague Pat Teague Bristol Corinthian YC 2 6 6 5 7 4 30
7th RS 200 C RS 200 529 Toby Ashton Rachel Ashton Burghfield SC 3 5 7 6 4 7 32
8th RS 200 C RS 200 391 Martin Ward Linda Mellor Girton SC 8 8 8 DNC DNC DNC 51

RS200 D Fleet
1st RS 200 D RS 200 825 Rosie Brearley Tom Brearley Littleton SC 4 2 1 1 1 4 13
2nd RS 200 D RS 200 1264 Simon Gillow Kate Gillow Chipstead SC 2 1 3 2 4 1 13
3rd RS 200 D RS 200 344 Ian Mills Claire Stopps RYA 1 3 5 4 2 6 21
4th RS 200 D RS 200 1019 James Clayton James Williams Royal Harwich YC 3 5 4 5 5 2 24
5th RS 200 D RS 200 1324 Adam McGovern Lucy Hodges Hollingworth Lake 6 4 2 6 3 5 26
6th RS 200 D RS 200 1164 Emma Johnson Eve Williams South Cerney SC 5 6 6 3 6 3 29
7th RS 200 D RS 200 1242 Rebecca Heller Penny Johnson Littleton SC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 54
7th RS 200 D RS 200 508 Adam Jenkins Yihyi Hwang Wembley SC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 54

RS400 A Fleet
1st RS 400 A RS 400 1251 Howard Farbrother Nathan Pinch Queen Mary SC 1 1 5 2 6 2 17
2nd RS 400 A RS 400 1236 Chris Martin Dan Martin Burghfield SC 3 8 1 6 1 1 20
3rd RS 400 A RS 400 1172 A Fleming J Hartigan Leigh & Lowton 5 2 4 4 3 3 21
4th RS 400 A RS 400 1082 Mike Hart Sally Kilpatrick Port Dinorwic SC 4 3 8 3 5 5 28
5th RS 400 A RS 400 826 Fiona Tylecote Steve Tylecote Rutland SC 2 4 6 8 2 7 29
6th RS 400 A RS 400 1134 Nick Simmonds Louise Hosken Weston 7 5 2 5 4 9 32
7th RS 400 A RS 400 1328 Michael Sims Elaine Marsh Carsington 6 6 3 7 7 4 33
8th RS 400 A RS 400 1139 James George Simon Kinsey Queen Mary SC 9 7 7 1 8 6 38
9th RS 400 A RS 400 744 Fiona Lewis Iain Lewis Queen Mary SC 8 9 9 9 9 8 52
10th RS 400 A RS 400 1296 Heather Chipperfield Giles Chipperfield DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 66

RS400 B Fleet
1st RS 400 B RS 400 1275 Sam Parker Stu Jagger 2 1 1 1 1 2 8
2nd RS 400 B RS 400 1059 Richard Brown Keith Bedborough Carsington SC 1 2 2 5 2 1 13
3rd RS 400 B RS 400 751 Howard Eeles Colin Staite Bartley SC 3 3 4 2 4 6 22
4th RS 400 B RS 400 1301 Jonathan Hughes Jon Wells Royal Corinthian 4 5 3 10 3 3 28
5th RS 400 B RS 400 1121 Henry Maples Anna Ludgate Mount Batten Centre 6 7 8 4 5 5 35
6th RS 400 B RS 400 1322 Ross Ryan Kathryn Hinsliff-Smith Notts County SC 8 8 6 3 7 4 36
7th RS 400 B RS 400 1268 Alistair Rose Yvette Rose Royal Windermere YC 7 4 7 6 6 7 37
8th RS 400 B RS 400 946 Caroline Whitehouse Williams Downing Bartley SC 5 6 5 9 9 10 44
9th RS 400 B RS 400 628 Bob Peak Maria Peak Alton Water 9 9 9 8 8 9 52
10th RS 400 B RS 400 561 Shawn Woodcock Tony Cliff Bartley SC 10 DNC 10 7 10 8 57
11th RS 400 B RS 400 469 Morris Barnes Giles Brookes Hollowell 12 DNF DNC 11 11 DNC DNC 70